Eight writers in four states and on three continents talking about what it takes to make a great story.

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Elizabeth: Friday Writing Sprints – Now With Goats!

Summer is blazing right along, which of course means it’s time for the goats.

What?

I don’t know if it happens where you live, but out here trailers full of goats are periodically brought in to clear the dry brush from the hills and roadsides. This week there were hundreds of them munching their way along a nearby drainage canal and the surrounding incline. Two days of steady eating and the area is bare and no longer a fire risk. That’s a good thing, since even though the 4th of July is well past, enterprising individuals continue setting off celebratory incendiary devices.

I’m not sure why I get a kick out of seeing the goats in action, but I’m not the only one. There were several cars pulled over yesterday as their owners took pictures, as well as a couple of families attempting to get an up close look. I wish I could have seen how they loaded the goats up when they were done though. How many trailers does it take to transport a couple of hundred (very full) goats? Inquiring minds want to know.

Since I’m not likely to get an answer to the goat/trailer question any time soon, I better find something to distract my attention. I think I’ll try a little Random Word Improv.

Care to join me?

Whether you’re fascinated by goats, enjoying a vacation, writing up a storm, or just trying to make it to the end of another work-week, a few minutes of Random Word Improv are a great way to have a little fun and get some words on the page. So pull up a chair, put on your thinking cap, and let’s get writing.

Ready?

Today’s random words are mostly random, so the theme is up to you. There will be bonus points for including a goatthough.

grass fence cup plastic

stream touch curse blurry

ambush banana invisible drowsy

couch gossip hermit smile

For any of you new to Random Word Improv, here’s how we play:

Pick as many words from the list as you want

Write the first line(s) of a story incorporating your words

Post your results in the comments section.

Okay. Are you ready? Let’s sprint!

*whistling aimlessly while you are off being creative*

Ah, you’re back. Kind of fun, right? Can’t wait to see what you have come up with.

“I could have been invisible for all the attention he paid me,” Penelope Diego told the goat as she stuck her fingers through the fence, trying to make him smile with her offering of fresh grass. And then the murders began.

Freddy Bartholomew cursed the gossip that streamed from the parlor more swiftly than the fastest pair could trot from Brighton to London. And then the murders began.

Lizzie took the plastic cup of banana smoothie and six fresh-baked hermits and retired to the couch to read the latest installment of the dramatic serial, A Touch of Ambush. And then the murders began.

“I feel so drowsy,” Helena said as she drank the hemlock, “and my vision is all blurry.” And then the murders really began.

Gosh, where has the week gone? We had record temps for Hokkaido on Thursday and Friday when you posted, and that’s my excuse. Total mental brown-out, and my feelings about goats are so complicated. They seem like useful animals and kind ones, but those eyes freak me out. We had to pass by goats on our way to school each morning for a few years. They were quite friendly, but they always looked as though they were hatching a scheme to take over the universe.